The present invention relates to a receiving apparatus for receiving content delivered from a content delivery apparatus and presenting the content. More particularly, it relates to a receiving apparatus, etc. for receiving broadcast content in real time.
With the prevalence of networks in recent years, a transmitter that performs broadcast type communication has delivered image data and/or audio data to a plurality of receiving apparatuses via the Internet.
Further, it has also become common practice to build a network in a home with a server apparatus for accumulating and delivering desired broadcast content, etc. provided therein, thereby delivering the content from the server apparatus to a client apparatus through the network.
However, when broadcast content, etc. are delivered in a home, it may occur that not only the broadcast content, etc. accumulated at a server apparatus, but also the broadcast content received by the server apparatus, are delivered to a client apparatus in real time. For example, when the broadcast content to be accumulated at the server apparatus are monitored on the client apparatus, the server apparatus is required to deliver the received content to the client apparatus in real time.
There is too large an amount of traffic over a network to keep a good communication speed between the server apparatus and the client apparatus, thereby causing delayed transmission. This prevents the server apparatus from delivering all of the information of the broadcast content received thereby to the client apparatus in real time. As a result, the quality of the broadcast content obtained by the client apparatus is less than that of the broadcast content received by the server apparatus.
For example, in the content delivery system shown in FIG. 1, image data of broadcast content received by a server apparatus 70 is encoded and delivered via a network 100 to a client apparatus 80. In this system, if there is not so large an amount of traffic over the network 100, all of the information is delivered and an image having a good quality, such as shown in FIG. 2A, is presented at the client apparatus 80. However, if another apparatus 90 connected to the network 100 performs a communication so that the amount of traffic over the network 100 increases, this causes the communication speed between the server apparatus 70 and the client apparatus 80 to deteriorate, for example. Less information is delivered owing to the deterioration in the communication speed. Thus, the quality of the broadcast content obtained at the client apparatus 80 is deteriorated. An image presented at the client apparatus 80 is deteriorated in quality, as shown in FIG. 2B, for example.
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a receiving apparatus for receiving broadcast content delivered via a network from a content delivery apparatus and for presenting the broadcast content in real time, without deterioration in the quality of the broadcast content.